


Steeling Possibilities

by lovetvfan



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27879821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovetvfan/pseuds/lovetvfan
Summary: Faced with the daunting task of turning her new loft into a home, Laura fixates on the piano that Mr. Steele purchased for her and wonders not only where he had gotten the money, but what the gift actually means.
Relationships: Laura Holt/Remington Steele
Comments: 59
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

She couldn’t keep it. That was the first thought that entered Laura’s head as she opened her eyes and climbed out of her sleeping bag. Her second thought as her eyes slowly adjusted to the unfamiliar surroundings of the loft she’d purchased was that she needed to buy a bed-frame and proper sheets as soon as possible. She was getting far too old to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor, and the sharp pain in her back only reinforced that feeling.

She squirrelled that thought away in the ever growing ‘to-do’ list that existed in her mind and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. She found herself yawning and running her hand through her hair. It was tangled and despite the thorough cleaning she had done on the upper level where she had decided she would sleep, she still felt as if she were covered in thin layer of dust.

Kneeling down, she rummaged through her toiletry bag until she located her tooth brush, comb and toothpaste. She padded over to the area that would eventually be a proper kitchen and thanked her lucky stars that the building manager had at least managed to get the water running in her unit. As she went through her morning hygiene ritual, she thought of the events of the past few days. Her eyes inevitably drifted back to the living area in the loft as she tried to shake the last vestiges of sleep from her mind.

As she took in the sight of the beautiful brand-new piano that sat in the middle of the floor, her first thought re-entered her mind.

She couldn’t keep it.

There was no way. It was too much. The man she had referred to as Remington Steele had always had a penchant for extravagance but this took things to an entirely different level. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected something like this waiting for her.

And naturally the sight of it had initially filled her with nothing but joy. After losing so much to have that one piece of home back on her first night in the loft had felt like a gift from the heavens. Oh, it wasn’t the same as her original piano. The sound was slightly different and the keys felt just a little bit alien underneath her fingertips, but she would get used to that with time and practice.

Except that she wasn’t keeping it. She couldn’t.

A gift like that carried a world of meaning. Surely he had known that, hadn’t he? Or had this been simply another one of his grand gestures designed to curry her favour and advance their physical relationship?

She didn’t want to believe that. Not after the night they had spent together following the loss of her house. Even now thinking about it filled her with warmth. She’d tried so hard to stay in control during the day as she sorted through the wreckage of her life, but at night as she sat alone on his couch, she couldn’t stop the flood of emotions that overtook her.

She found herself sobbing in his living room, overcome with feelings too numerous to name. Fear, mixed with aching loss mingled together and overrode her ability to keep herself in check. She’d promised herself that after Wilson left her, she would never let another man see her cry. That promise flew out the window the second her eyes met his.

He'd tried to turn away. She saw the look of helplessness on his face as he took in the sight of her. She wasn’t sure if he’d tried to go back into his room out of respect for her dignity or because he had no idea what to do with a sobbing Laura Holt. Perhaps it had been both of those things. Either way, she shocked herself by asking him – pleading with him not to go.

And he didn’t. He’d taken her in his arms, and let her sob into his shoulder. He hadn’t offered any empty platitudes or promised her everything would be okay. He simply held her and listened as she cried.

The memory of it overcame her in an almost visceral way. She thought of the way his arms felt around her, solid and strong. The scent of his body and the warmth of his skin against her as they walked over to the fireplace and sat down lingered in her mind as did the feeling of his silk robe contrasted with the scratchiness of his chest as he held her close. The intimacy she had felt in that moment had overwhelmed her as did the intense look in his eyes. She hadn’t felt that connected with anyone and it had both scared and exhilarated her.

When they had sat down, he told her a story of one of his many past aliases. She had listened with rapt attention as he spun a yarn involving himself as a Greek smuggler and a friend who had seen his entire life’s work go up in flames. She had no idea if the story was true or if it was another one of his colourful embellishments, but she decided in that moment she didn’t care. He had given her something that she thought was lost to her entirely – hope. That one small sliver of it, mixed with the tenderness in his deep blue eyes had been enough to cause her to abandon every single rule she had set in place for herself where he was concerned.

She blushed as the memory of her words came flooding back.

 _“Tonight…if you asked me…I don’t think I could say no.”_ And she had meant it. It wasn’t because she was overcome with desire for him, it was simply because she craved the safety and security that he suddenly represented. She needed something to hold onto – something that could make her feel less alone…less adrift.

Murphy had left, as had Bernice. Mildred had joined them, but she was still in the dark as to the truth of Remington Steele’s identity. The only other person who knew the truth of their deception was the one man she hadn’t been sure she could trust. And now she’d lost her home. All of it gone in one fell swoop. And yet here he was. The man with no name and no past was, in that moment, the most stable thing in her life and she felt she needed to hold onto it. She wanted to be as close to him as possible. To feel his body against hers, his arms holding her close, and keeping her anchored when everything else had been washed away.

_“Tonight…I don’t think I could ask.”_

The regret in his voice had been real and the compassion in his eyes genuine. She remembered being surprised. The last thing she had expected was for him to say no to her – especially after everything they had been through together.

Part of her wondered why he’d said no. She knew he wanted their relationship to move forward. And deep down Laura wanted that as well. Was it really because he felt the timing was wrong? Or was it simply because making love to a puffy-faced, tear stained Laura Holt with mascara running down her cheeks didn’t live up to whatever fantasy situation he had constructed in his mind?

She didn’t want to think that of him, but the doubts were always there especially when it came to him. How could she truly trust a man who didn’t see fit to tell her his real name? All the grand gestures and heartfelt talks couldn’t ever make up for the fact that he was keeping a part of himself from her.

And now this gift.

This albatross sitting in her living area. What on Earth was she supposed to say to him at the office? And would a simple thank you be enough? He’d said no to her offer of intimacy that night, but perhaps he’d simply assumed the offer would still be there another night. Was this his way of ensuring it?

It felt wrong to think that. The brief glimpses that she had gotten of his past had told her that despite his criminal history, a good man lie underneath. So what did this mean? Did it mean anything? Or was he simply unaware of just how much something like this would mean to her?

They hadn’t talked about that night. Not really. The case that needed to be solved had provided a welcome buffer the following morning, allowing them to avoid any awkward conversations or questions as to what that night had meant. Laura was grateful for that, but also confused. Had it meant as much to him as it had to her? She felt both affirmed by his rejection and thoroughly embarrassed. At the time it made perfect sense to offer herself to him, but in the cold light of day she felt humiliated and exposed. He hadn’t said anything about it and so she opted not to as well both of them focusing their attention on catching the men who had blown up her house and bringing them to justice.

She shook her head. This was getting her nowhere and she had a lot of things to do that day. She sighed and took a good look around the loft, mentally cataloguing everything she would need in order to turn it into a proper home.

She had told Mr. Steele and Mildred that she was taking a few days off in order to furnish the loft and get settled in. At the time, she had been filled with a rush of endorphins. They had just solved the case, and Laura was excited to ‘think of the possibilities’ as he had suggested to her. She’d bought herself some new clothes and couldn’t wait to get started.

Now, looking at all that she would need to do, she felt suddenly overwhelmed by the task. How could she ever replace a home? A lifetime’s worth of memories had been lost in those four walls. Could she really just replace it all in a few days? And would it ever really feel like home? If Bernice were here, she might have asked her to come furniture shopping with her. She’d always been up for some girl time.

Murphy was gone and even if he wasn’t, she wouldn’t want to give him the wrong idea by asking him to come with her. Ever since he had kissed her and told her how he had felt about her, their friendship had never really recovered. She missed him, but she knew that these things happened sometimes and she couldn’t force herself to feel something for him. Murphy knew that too. In a way, his leaving was inevitable.

She could ask Mildred, but Mildred had offered to hold down the fort and she was counting on the older woman to keep Mr. Steele in check.

She couldn’t ask Mr. Steele to come with her. Much as she might want to, asking him to help her furnish a home felt a bit too domestic and after the other night and this gift, she wasn’t sure how close she wanted to allow him to get. No, it was up to her to do this on her own. And there was a lot to do.

She checked her watch and realised she only had a few hours to get some of the major purchases out of the way. She’d arranged for people from the telephone company to come at two and hook up her phone service. She would have to have as much of her shopping done as she could before then. She was grateful that the insurance money on her home had paid out enough to both purchase the loft and leave enough behind to furnish it. In a pinch she knew she could have taken money out of the agency coffers, but she preferred not to do that. The agency had been doing so well in the past few months that she was loathe to do anything that might jeopardise that.

Realising that she needed to get a move on, Laura looked through the duffle bag that she had packed and threw on a casual blouse and a pair of jeans. She did her best to fix her hair in the dirty mirror and added that to her ever-growing list of things she needed to buy. Grabbing her purse, she ran out the door glancing once more at the piano that sat in the middle of the room awash with potential meaning.

She couldn’t keep it. Could she?


	2. Chapter 2

The office was far too quiet without her. That was the first thought Mr. Steele had as he arrived that morning. Striding through the doors he shot Mildred a cheery ‘hello’, and went into his office only to find himself sitting at his desk, sipping a coffee he’d allowed to go cold and rifling through his copy of _The Great American Movie Book._

He wasn’t really sure why he’d even come in. They had no active cases at the moment and Mildred was able to hold the fort down where filing and booking clients was concerned. There was nothing for him to do here and yet he’d found himself unable to stay at home. In truth, he suspected he had come here out of habit alone. The place he truly wanted to be was with Laura, helping her get settled into her new loft.

She’d asked for space, and he had respected that request. Still, it was hard to keep his thoughts from running away with him, especially whenever he pictured her reaction to the gift he’d purchased for her.

A piano. Had it been too much?

He’d gone back and forth in his mind even as he’d ordered it to be delivered. They’d never really given one another gifts before. Oh, he had tried to convince her to go away with him to some exotic location or sun-drenched beach but she had never said yes and he hadn’t really expected her to. It had all been part of the game they had been playing with one another and that in and of itself had been rewarding enough for the time being.

They had given each other small gifts at Christmas time. She had bought him a watch that was marginally expensive but not so much so as to be misconstrued as a heavy emotional investment. Ditto for the cashmere sweater he had purchased for her in a colour he knew would bring out the pink in her cheeks. Gifts that said they cared about one another without being too specific as to how deeply. The kind of gift you might give to a family member or a close friend. Simple gifts. Safe gifts.

There was nothing safe about the piano. Ever since her house had been destroyed nothing had been safe between them. A shift had taken place the night she stayed at his apartment. They hadn’t spoken about it, but neither one of them could deny it.

It scared him. Terrified him actually. He knew he cared about her. He knew that he wanted to have a relationship with her – to be in her life in a way that he had never wanted to be with anyone else.

But he hadn’t realised the depth of that feeling until he’d seen her sitting there, tear stained and heartbroken as she grieved the loss of her home. Seeing her like that – so lost and afraid – had caused his heart to break right alongside her.

He hadn’t wanted her to notice him. In fact, he had tried to go back into his room. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to be there for her or because he was uncomfortable with her tears. Rather, he didn’t think she would want him there. The Laura Holt he knew was fiercely independent and wilful to a fault. She had lashed out angrily at him when he suggested she get some rest and he worried that if she saw him standing there watching her at her most vulnerable, she would lash out again.

Instead, she had said the last thing he had ever expected.

_“Don’t go.”_

Two words. So very simple and yet the tremble in her voice and the loneliness in her eyes almost broke him. He desperately wanted to be able to swoop in like a conquering hero and take her pain away.

But he couldn’t. And he wasn’t even sure he was the right man to try. What did he know – a man who had never known a home – about losing one? He felt completely out of his depth and yet he knew there was no way he could resist her. No way he could say no to her.

Instead, he had taken her into his arms and let her cry into his chest. The salt of her tears felt like a brand against his skin as her body shook against him until there were no more tears left to cry. He felt utterly inadequate to the task of comforting her, fearing that he would inevitably say or do the wrong thing. He had suddenly been painfully aware that every single one of her primary support systems was gone leaving only himself behind. And he didn’t know if he was up for it. Certainly he didn’t know her as well as Murphy or Bernice had. She hadn’t trusted him enough to allow him to be privy to the deeper parts of herself. It wasn’t until he mentioned seeing Laura’s charred piano among the wreckage, that Mildred had told him it had been a gift from her grandmother. Even a woman who had only been with the agency a few short months knew the significance of that loss better than he did.

He didn’t know where the story of Marcos Androkos had come from or why it felt like the right thing to say. Lord knows a better man would have far superior words of comfort – words that could speak to the heart of her sadness. All he had to offer was a small and arguably insignificant memory of a man he had once known what felt like a lifetime ago.

He told her the story trying to be as animated as possible in order to distract her. It seemed to work as she smiled through her tears and hung on his every word. When he finished, she had stared at him for what felt like an eternity. Her hair hung about her shoulders in tangled waves. Her face was streaked with tears and the remnants of her mascara and yet, in that moment that she’d never looked more beautiful – never looked more human. This was the Laura he had wanted to get to know thoroughly and completely.

_A woman he could fall in love with?_

The thought had come to him out of nowhere. It startled him as did her next words. She hadn’t needed to clarify what she had meant when she said if he asked her, she didn’t think she could say no. They were words he had wanted to hear ever since he’d sent a magnum of champagne over to her table.

And yet, even as she spoke them a heaviness in his heart told him he couldn’t take her up on the offer. A lesser, more unprincipled version of himself might have been able to do so, but that man hadn’t existed for a long time. Slowly over the last year he had been transformed into a man much closer to the idea of Remington Steele and that man could not take advantage of Laura’s loss in such a way, no matter how much his body cried out for hers.

He'd told her gently and with heavy regret that he couldn’t ask. She had seemed to accept that response – perhaps even been relieved by it. He hadn’t been sure and they hadn’t talked about it the following day.

It seemed as if by mutual agreement that they decided not to speak about that night and instead they focused on solving the case. Steele had found he needed to restrain himself from the intense desire to hurt those that had gone after her. It was a new feeling for him. He didn’t consider himself the type of man who felt the need to protect a partner and he had always known Laura to be the kind of woman who could handle herself.

And yet, the thought of what could have happened to her had Nero not escaped from the house that night chilled him to the very bone as did the look on her face the following day when she saw the remains of what had once been her piano.

It had been that look that had led him to ask Mildred if the piano held special significance for her. And it had been that look that had caused him to do something he’d never thought he would do when he’d purchased a new one for her. She couldn’t know about that part. If she knew where they money had actually come from…well, some truths were best left unspoken.

And now, he found himself sitting alone in his office, wondering what her face had looked like when she had first seen it. Had it lit up, banishing that haunted expression from her features? Was she playing it right now? He’d lingered outside her loft the night he’d had it delivered, hoping she would sit down and play it and she had obliged. It had been enough that night to know that she had put her fingers to the keys allowing the music to drift into the night air – the song choice melancholy and beautiful.

He didn’t need her to thank him – in fact part of him hoped she wouldn’t. He knew in giving it to her he was revealing a part of himself that he usually kept hidden. Words were not his strong suit, but in that gift he told her more than he’d ever told anyone. Had she been listening? Did she know how much he cared for her? And would that scare her away from him or bring them closer?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out and yet he also felt like he would go crazy not seeing her for the next few days. He understood her need for time to herself. He understood that she would want to furnish her loft and get settled into her new life. So much had changed for her in such a short span of time that his presence could only complicate things even further and yet he yearned to be by her side.

A year ago the idea of browsing for couches and household furniture with a woman would have been the dullest task he could ever imagine and yet now? Now it was the only place he wanted to be.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face, trying to think of a way to keep his mind occupied and off the fears and doubts swirling through his brain. He checked the clock and groaned when he realised it was still very early in the morning. He found himself sauntering into the main reception area where Mildred sat, head buried in paperwork as she typed things into the computer.

There was a stack of cheques on the front desk that Laura had ear marked to be deposited into the agency’s accounts. Normally an errand as mundane as that would have filled him with boredom but today it felt like a saving grace – a way he could help her without getting in her way or putting their fragile new connection at risk.

Picking them up, he stuffed them into his suit jacket and told Mildred he was heading out and would be back shortly. She waved good bye as he left the office, wondering for the millionth time that morning what she was doing and how she was feeling.


	3. Chapter 3

Laura closed the door to the loft, and exhaled slowly. The man from the telephone company had just left, leaving Laura with a working phone and a lot to do. Her shopping trip, while successful, had left her with a very short window with which to clean her loft in preparation for the delivery of the most important furniture pieces. In just four short hours, Laura could expect a couch as well as a bed frame, stove, refrigerator and coffee table.

She’d bought a good deal of cleaning supplies intending to have everything as spotless as possible for when those items were delivered and even though she knew she should be rolling up her sleeves and getting started, she found herself feeling surprisingly lonely.

It was an odd feeling. She’d never before felt as if she needed someone around her at all times. One of the most obvious signs that she and Wilson had not been good for one another had been the fact that she hadn’t really missed him when he had moved out. He hadn’t really lived with her in any sort of way that suggested permanence. There was no arguing over furniture, nor having to replace anything that he had taken. Everything in the house had been hers. In many ways, he’d been more like a room mate than a live-in boyfriend and Laura had liked it that way.

Her solitude once he had left had been something she had cherished. Her home had been her safe haven – a place she could unwind and leave the day’s difficulties behind. And though she had valued the friendship she’d had with Murphy and Bernice, she had always kept her home life fairly private. There were no dinners at her house, nor parties to celebrate major occasions. Those generally took place at the office, if at all.

And it suddenly occurred to her that in the absence of those who she had once considered friends, rebuilding her life was that much harder. She wanted to reach out, but she wasn’t sure how to do so. She had never felt so alone.

 _You’re not alone. Not really,_ a voice whispered in her ear. She shook it away as her eyes drifted over to the piano.

She’d avoided looking at it until now. When she did, a memory forced itself to the surface.

_“I’m here.”_

His voice had been gentle – almost hesitant. Such a simple thing to say, and yet so loaded with meaning. She’d recognised the depth of what he was offering the moment those words left his lips. Comfort. Security.

Love?

_“The man with no name?”_

She hadn’t meant to say it the way she had, but looking back she wondered if he’d been hurt by it. His name, so important to her had felt like the least important thing in the world in that moment. The way he looked at her – with unnerving affection had said more than a title ever could and yet she had no way of conveying that knowledge to him, except to offer him the one thing she knew he had wanted from the beginning.

But it hadn’t been right and they had both known that. Just like she knew that the message this gift was sending was one she wasn’t sure she was ready for. If she accepted it, what did that mean for the two of them?

She sighed and looked back at the cleaning supplies she’d set down in the kitchen area. She didn’t have much time and yet cleaning the loft was the last thing on her mind at the moment. She wanted to talk to someone – needed to talk to someone.

So she did the first thing that came to mind. She called the agency to talk to Mildred, certain that he would not be there. After all, what would there be for him to do? There were no cases to work on and he was positively allergic to paper work.

No, it made perfect sense. Any responsible business owner would check in and make sure things were running well. And it would give her the ability to test the phone connection.

Swiftly, she dialled the number and waited the three or four rings before Mildred’s voice came over the line in a perfect business-like tone.

“Remington Steele Investigations, how may I help you?”

“Mildred, it’s me!” Laura told her, “just wanted to give you my new phone number.”

“Oh, Miss Holt!” Mildred exclaimed a little too loudly. “Let me get a pen and I’ll write it down.”

She waited and when Mildred told her she was ready, Laura recited the number to her. She could have kept her old number, but for some reason it hadn’t made her feel safe to do so. Even though they had caught the men responsible for blowing up her home, they had known enough about her life to know where she lived. Laura didn’t feel right keeping the number the same after that so she had changed it.

“Got it honey,” Mildred told her. “How goes the clean up?”

“It’s a work in progress,” Laura said wryly. She knew by simply having this conversation she was wasting valuable time and yet she couldn’t seem to bring herself to focus. She glanced at the piano once more. “How are things at the agency? Did you get to the bank?”

“I did,” Mildred said evasively. Almost immediately Laura knew something was wrong.

“Everything alright?” She asked, hoping to sound casual. Though she had no regrets about bringing Mildred on board, the fact that Mildred was not aware of who was really in charge had posed it’s share of challenges. She thought they had laid out the ground rules when they took the Stonewell Aircraft case, but apparently Mildred was still having difficulty talking to her about agency business.

“Well, yes…and no.” Mildred hemmed and hawed. “I think I ought to talk to Mr. Steele about it first. I’m sure it’s a mistake and that he can clear it right up.”

“What mistake?” Laura demanded, suddenly very suspicious. “Mildred, remember what Mr. Steele told you? He’s the boss, but I’m in charge. Besides, if there really is a problem, you wouldn’t want to burden Mr. Steele with it, would you? Especially since I can probably help sort it out.”

“Well…” she could hear the hesitancy in Mildred’s voice and felt slightly guilty for manipulating her the way she had. After a beat or two, Mildred filled her in.

“I went to the bank like you asked and updated the passbook for the agency’s business account. It should have balanced but there’s some money missing.”

“How much money?” Laura asked, suspicion growing as she looked at the incredibly expensive piano in the living area once again.

“About twenty thousand,” Mildred said, sounding thoroughly miserable now. “I don’t understand it. It should be there. I know there was a cheque deposited.”

He wouldn’t, would he? She had a hard time believing he would be that callous as to use her own agency’s money to make the purchase. And yet, she knew how expensive a piano like that could be. Laura let out a breath she had been holding and ran her hand through her hair.

“Don’t worry about it, Mildred,” she told her. “It was likely an error on my part. I’ll talk to Mr. Steele later. You’re not at fault so don’t give it a second thought.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Holt,” Mildred insisted. “I hope it doesn’t get you into trouble with the boss.”

“Believe me when I say I can handle him,” Laura said grimly. “I’ll talk to you later, alright?”

They said their goodbyes and Laura hung up the phone.

She was suddenly overcome with anger. How could he? How could he use her agency’s hard-earned money without asking her?

She’d thought it was a gift and he had obviously wanted her to think that. But did he really think she wouldn’t notice? She’d thought that the gesture had meant something – that he had been trying in his own way to tell her how he felt about her. But it looked as if her worst fears had been right all along. Only a con man would think that he could pass this off as a gift. He’d obviously hoped she would be so overcome by the gesture that she wouldn’t look into it that closely.

Perhaps he was hoping that she would be so overcome by it that she would offer herself to him again. It made her furious to think that he might have done it purely to get her into bed and part of her wanted to drive over to his apartment and give him a piece of her mind right then and there, but something inside her caused her to hesitate.

An image of his face, so tender and caring flashed through her mind as he told her to ‘think of the possibilities’. She remembered the way it had felt to be held by him as she cried and the kiss he had placed on her hand – almost reverently.

_“Tonight…I don’t think I could ask.”_

That had to have been real.

So what did this mean?

Without even thinking about it she found herself picking up the phone and dialling another number. It ran several times before a familiar voice answered.

“Hello?” It had only been a few months, but to Laura it felt like years and she found herself smiling at the sound of her former partner’s voice over the telephone line.

“Murphy, hi!”

“Laura?” He sounded confused. She didn’t blame him. Though they said they would keep in touch, neither one of them had reached out after he had made the move to Denver. Laura wasn’t sure what prevented him from doing so but for her it felt like too many things had been left unsaid between them and it didn’t feel right.

So why now? It had been instinct to call him – and now that she had him on the line, she had no idea what to say. She wanted to tell him everything and yet something inside her hesitated. He had made his dislike for Mr. Steele extremely obvious from the beginning. Laura knew if he were still here, he would have been the first to suggest that the gift likely carried a nefarious double meaning. Did she call him to get him to confirm her suspicions? Or because she wanted him to talk her out of it. She shook her head and focused on the conversation at hand.

“Yeah it’s me, Murph,” Laura replied. “I know it’s been a while, but I…well something happened and…”

“Is everything alright?” He sounded concerned now. Murphy had always known when she was upset, usually without her having to tell him. It was one of the reasons they made such great friends and one of her greatest regrets was not having the same feelings for him that he did for her. They made a fantastic pair in a lot of ways. And it was comforting to hear the worry in his voice. It made her feel less alone.

“No,” she replied, then realising he would be able to tell she was lying, she added, “well yes. Or rather, it will be. I just called to give you my new phone number. I’ve…I’ve moved.”

“Moved? New number?” Murphy’s voice deepened and she could picture the frown slowly darkening his face. “Laura, you didn’t go ahead and move in with that con man, did you?”

“Of course not!” Laura exclaimed. “Mr. Steele and I were working on a case. It got a bit dicey and someone…blew up my house.”

“They what?!” He was yelling now, his fear for her safety palpable even across the miles between them. “Are you safe? Do you need me? I can be on the first flight out.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him. While it was nice to know that there was enough of a friendship left to warrant such an offer, she knew she couldn’t take it. Not only had he started a new business since moving to Denver, but a new relationship with a woman named Sherry whom he’d met on one of their last cases together. She wouldn’t ruin his fresh start for him, no matter how much she missed hi company. “Mr. Steele and I caught the men responsible. Still, it felt prudent to change my phone number just in case.”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” He asked, slightly mollified by her tone.

“I’m sure.” She smiled. “It’s just good to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to hear yours too,” Murphy replied warmly. A short pause stretched between them while he digested the news. “I’m sorry to hear about your home. That must be difficult for you.”

“It is,” she replied feeling suddenly like a drowning person reaching for land. A surge of emotion ran through her at the sound of empathy in his voice. “So much has changed. I moved into a loft and I’m in the process of some serious renovations.”

“A loft? You?” Murphy asked, and she could picture him raising an eyebrow. She wasn’t a snob by any means, but it had been a point of pride for her to have graduated and bought a house on her own at such a young age. In many ways the loft could be seen as a step back but for some reason the more she thought about it the more it seemed like the right move to make. It felt as if she had hurled herself into adulthood with devastating speed skipping all sorts of crucial steps in between. Having this change of living space was causing her to re evaluate more than a few things and for that she was grateful.

“We discovered it on the case,” she said defensively. “And I needed a new place quickly. Mr. Steele let me stay at his place for a couple of nights after it happened, but I couldn’t stay there forever.” She paused thinking back to his earlier question. “Did you really think I’d move in with him?”

“Where he’s concerned, anything’s possible,” Murphy groused. It was clear despite his new relationship, Mr. Steele was still a sore spot with him. “Don’t let him take advantage of you, Laura. I know that your home meant to you.”

“I’m not that easy to take advantage of,” Laura replied, slightly annoyed that Murphy seemed to think so little of her. And yet, hadn’t he been right? She had offered herself to him. One setback in her life and she had thrown all her principals out the window. Was that his fault, or hers? “Besides he was a perfect gentleman. Well, until he went and used agency funds to buy me a piano, that is.”

“He what?” Murphy sounded surprised which caused her to wonder if she had unfairly judged him before knowing all the facts. If Murphy didn’t think him capable, maybe she _was_ jumping to conclusions.

“I don’t know for sure,” she admitted, “but Mildred said there’s a sizeable amount of money missing from one of the agency accounts. I’m not sure what to think. I want to believe in him, but I just don’t know if…”

“Why are you calling, Laura?” Murphy abruptly interrupted.

“I told you,” she stammered not used to hearing that tone in Murphy’s voice. “I called to give you my new number.”

“Really? Because it sounds more like you called to ask advice about your relationship.” He sighed. “Look it’s no secret that I had feelings for you and you were well within your rights to turn me down. But I’m not one of your girlfriends. And even though I’m happy with Sherry, I can’t be the person you go running to whenever that guy pulls something shady. I’m not very good at holding back on the ‘I told you so’s.”

“I’m sorry, Murphy,” Laura said softly. She immediately felt bad for having dumped these problems on him. “I just thought…”

“You thought wrong,” Murphy said flatly. Then, after a few seconds his tone softened. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. I’ll always be here for you but this is not a topic we can discuss. You understand, don’t you?’

“Yes,” Laura said, properly chastened. She looked at the piano and then at the cleaning supplies. “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you soon, alright?”

“Alright,” he agreed though both of them knew it was a lie. “And if anything else happens with this house situation – anything at all – you can always come to Denver. Sherry and I have a spare room.”

“Thanks,” Laura said, feeling slightly reassured by the olive branch – even if both of them knew she would never take him up on it. “Bye, Murphy.”

“Bye, Laura.”


	4. Chapter 4

The conversation with Murphy left a sour taste in Laura’s mouth. It was one thing to know that Murphy had left to seek out his own opportunities, but it was completely another to know that there were now very clear and defined boundaries to their friendship – boundaries that hadn’t been there before and that left her without anyone to talk to where Mr. Steele was concerned.

Bernice, while helpful, had eloped with a saxophone player and Laura had no idea where she was or how to reach her. She suspected that in a few months time she would get back in touch and reach out, but it didn’t help in the here and now. And Mildred…well, Mildred didn’t have a clear picture in regards to Mr. Steele. Her hero worship of the man would no doubt blind her to his faults and flaws – flaws that Laura couldn’t tell Mildred about in any sort of useful detail.

With a sigh she realised that was probably for the best as she had a lot of work to do. She cleared her mind of all pressing issues concerning Mr. Steele and the piano and set to work on cleaning her loft in preparation for delivery of her furniture.

The rest of the day went by in a blur as she finished her tasks, accepted the deliveries she had been expecting and made appointments for things such as electrical hook ups for kitchen appliances and cable television.

She rifled through some catalogues to get some more ideas on smaller furnishings like curtains, lamps, and made notes on the items that looked interesting. She would have to phone a contractor. She’d made a lot of progress, but there were some things that couldn’t be done by simply placing an order in a catalogue. The first room that she would need to focus on would be the bathroom, followed by the kitchen. While the loft did possess a toilet, it lacked a shower. Her super had given her a key to the custodial showers in the sub basement of the building. He’d assured her that the staff would be gone in the evenings – a theory Laura intended to test that evening. 

She looked at the clock and realised that now was as good a time as any. She gathered up her clothing, towel, toiletries and slippers and made the long trek down the flights of stairs. While she looked forward to the daily stair climb as a way to keep fit and maintaining her energy levels, she knew it was something she was bound to hear Mr. Steele complain about endlessly whenever he came to see her. It didn’t seem fair that he could be so allergic to all forms of exercise and somehow manage to maintain his lean, athletic physique.

As she stepped into the shower, she forced her thoughts away from Mr. Steele. The room containing the showers was dimly lit and not very welcoming. Laura suspected it was used primarily after one of the building’s maintenance crew had to tackle something particularly filthy such as burst pipes and other plumbing fiascoes. Still, the water was warm and Laura was grateful to be able to wash the day’s grime away.

When finished, she dressed and made her way back up the stairs, promising herself that she would make the bathroom her top priority the next day. Ordering takeout was not nearly as inconvenient as having to traverse several flights of stairs every evening just to take a shower.

When she re entered her loft, she rummaged through the various catalogues and magazines she’d purchased until she came across one that featured various decorating ideas. She allowed herself to get lost in it for the next hour or so. It kept her occupied and prevented her from thinking about the piano and all the questions that went along with it.

Eventually, when there was nothing left for her to do, her thoughts drifted back to it. She found herself sitting down on the bench as she had the night before and allowed her fingers to dance lightly over the keys playing songs that gave her comfort and reminded her of her grandmother’s firm yet gentle voice as she taught her how to play.

She hadn’t realised she was crying until one of her tears landed on her fingers. She stopped and allowed herself a deep breath, grieving her loss fully and completely all over again. Her heart felt heavy and adrenaline raced through her as she remembered the smell of the smoke and the heaviness of Mr. Steele’s body pressing down on her, shielding her from the heat emanating from the wreckage of her home. Her heart pounded as she flashed back to that moment. She forced herself to take calming breaths, attempting to slow her racing heart as she reminded herself that she hadn’t been inside the house.

It was a thought she had fought to keep from entering her mind ever since it happened – what if Nero hadn’t run out the door? What if she had taken Mr. Steele up on his offer to go inside and ‘find reasons to turn the lights off’? It was a question she already knew the answer to, and one that chilled her to the core. She and Mr. Steele had survived that attempt out of sheer luck. She was not okay and she had a feeling that it would be a long time before she could call herself okay.

Briefly, she wondered if Mr. Steele was going through the same thing. Did he feel the smoke in the back of his throat every time he closed his eyes? Was he in his apartment right now doing everything he could to try to distract himself from thinking about what might have been if they had gone inside? Was that why he bought her the piano? To distract himself? That he might have been just as terrified as she was, hadn’t occurred to her until now. She’d lost her home, but he’d almost died. Surely that had to have some kind of impact on him.

For the first time, she realised she wanted to keep the piano. Did it really matter how he had gotten it or what his intentions had been? Surely this was an item that she would have wanted to replace had he not already done so. And his taste was admittedly exquisite. Should she just simply be grateful that he had saved her the difficulty of replacing this piece of furniture and leave it at that?

 _Depends on what he wants from you,_ her inner voice reminded her. She shook her head. She didn’t like to think he’d be that calculated, but the fact that he might have used agency funds to get the piano caused her to wonder.

She decided she had to know where the money had come from. Finding that out might help give her clarity as to what to do and what to expect from him. She had very little knowledge of what his life had been like prior to meeting her. Aside from the five different passports in five different names, the details of his past were frustratingly scarce. She was starting to piece together bits and pieces of his life as she found them out, but in some ways it only made things more confusing.

She knew he’d been the protégé of a con man that had charmed her mother last year by the name of Daniel Chalmers. She knew he had at some point in his past stolen the Five Nudes of Cairo. She knew he could appraise a gem with remarkable accuracy and could pick a lock with his eyes closed. She knew he had briefly prospected for gold in the Yukon. And thanks to the story he’d told her that night, she knew he had spent some time working as a smuggler in Greece.

None of those elements of his past suggested to her that he readily possessed a sum of money that large for which he could purchase the piano. That, combined with the missing sum of money Mildred had mentioned to her earlier made the idea that he had used company funds a logical conclusion to draw.

But Laura was a detective and if she wanted to get to the bottom of this, she needed cold hard facts, not assumptions. To that end, she decided to approach this as any other mystery to be solved, only this time the client was herself.

She glanced down at the piano and took note of it. Even someone who knew next to nothing about pianos would be able to tell that he’d spared no expense. A beautiful brand-new Steinway piano should be easy enough to trace. Steinways were handcrafted and individually numbered so it wouldn’t be difficult to find a record of its purchase. If he had used company funds, he’d left himself wide open by purchasing something so readily identifiable.

She resolved tomorrow to begin calling around to various stores to find out if that particular piano had been sold there and to whom. If the amount matched what was missing in the account, the evidence would be practically irrefutable and Laura could go from there.

Decision made, she stood up from the bench, smoothed her jeans with her hands and allowed herself a long yawn. She realised she was weary right down to her bones. It was time to call it a night and pick things up in the morning.

She allowed herself one last look at the instrument as she settled into what was now a proper bed and smiled wistfully as she thought back to the night he had held her while she cried. The tenderness with which he’d kissed her hand was forever seared into her brain, as was the look in his eyes – a look that spoke of emotions too frightening to name. Agency funds or not, the greatest gift he had given her that night was not sitting in her living area right now. Would that memory be forever tarnished if the piano was yet another attempt to manipulate her into a tryst? She wasn’t sure. As she fell into a troubled sleep, she thought about how safe she’d felt the night he had held her and how, amidst all the chaos, in that moment, trusting him had been the easiest decision she’d ever made.


	5. Chapter 5

Mr. Steele checked his watch for the tenth time the following afternoon and suppressed a yawn. Although it was only one o’ clock, he was already on his fifth cup of coffee. He’d barely slept the night before and the little sleep he had gotten had been plagued with disturbing dreams and visceral memories involving the explosion. He’d hoped that by coming into the office he would be able to excise the sound of popping glass and the roar of the fire as it consumed the home. He’d drank cup of coffee after cup of coffee not only to keep himself awake, but to banish the taste of smoke that didn’t seem to want to leave the back of his throat. It almost worked, but no matter what he did or how tired he was, he couldn’t seem to banish the memory of utter devastation on Laura’s face as she saw her entire home go up in flames. And for some reason, the fear that lingered from that night did not seem to want to dissipate.

He couldn’t describe the feeling but it wasn’t one he’d ever experienced before – a restlessness coupled with a prickly feeling in the corners of his mind. It was as if there were a sixth sense keeping him on guard at all times.

He wasn’t sure why he had come in that day.

But where else would he go? He could have stayed home and watched old movies – his go-to whenever he wanted time to recharge, but for some reason his apartment felt empty and uninviting.

He wanted to be with her. He wasn’t even sure why, but the urge to make some excuse and show up at her loft was almost overwhelming. Memories and images ran through his mind on repeat. He wasn’t sure if his rapid heart rate was because of the multiple cups of coffee or because of the lingering sense of fear that ran through him every time he thought of what might have happened that night had the cat not escaped through the door. That was a place he wasn’t sure he was able to go. Not yet. Instead, he forced himself to think about how she felt as she dissolved into his arms – how she had leaned on him and for the first time in their relationship, truly giving him her trust. He thought of the way she’d looked at him that night to avoid thinking about the feeling of his body sheltering hers and the intense heat on his back as he covered her.

He wasn’t ready to really think about how close they had both come to death. It was too frightening to face and so endeavoured to keep himself busy in an attempt to ward off the memories that caused him to feel as if the walls were closing in on him.

He wanted to be in the office. He needed to be in the office. If he couldn’t be with her, then he wanted to be useful in some way for when Laura returned. He’d even attempted to organise the filing cabinet when he had come in first thing in the morning much to Mildred’s horror when she saw the mess he’d made of it.

He'd spent the next hour apologising as Mildred attempted put things back in order. As per Laura’s request, Mildred had also booked any upcoming client meetings for when she got back. He had to admit it bothered him slightly to think that after everything they had been through, Laura didn’t trust him to take a preliminary meeting with a client.

It also frightened him to realise how lost he felt without the office to come to every day and cases to solve with her. He’d always been a solitary man, happy with being on his own and relishing the freedom the life of a con man had given him. If he was unhappy in a situation or things got too dangerous, he simply left and found something new.

He'd never stayed in one place this long. He told himself it was by choice – that if he wanted to leave he could, but after buying Laura that piano, he knew that wasn’t true.

It wasn’t just where he’d gotten the money for it – though that been a huge part of it. It was realising that he genuinely couldn’t imagine being anywhere else with her. All the intrigues and exciting locals in his past paled in comparison to the way she felt when she would smile at him first thing in the morning.

He’d written it off as infatuation – something likely to fade over time especially given that she was so resistant to the idea of mixing business and pleasure but as time wore on, the feeling not only stayed, but intensified.

He found himself wanting to be with her in every sense of the word. He found himself working towards being the man she had envisioned when she invented Remington Steele – desperately wanting to be worthy of her trust.

He knew his name and his past were huge stumbling blocks for her and though part of him wanted to tell her everything, he held back. Initially it was because he liked being the man of mystery and he knew that the mystery was the only thing keeping Laura from shutting down a relationship with him entirely. Her natural curiosity always got the better of her and so he clung to the mystery, hoping eventually it might bring them closer.

But as it did, he started to realise something else. The mystery was far more exciting than the man. He began to worry if that was all that was keeping them together. Would Laura still find him as intriguing and exciting if she knew the truth? That behind the stories of international art theft and smuggling lay an unwanted and angry child who had grown into a man with no idea where he came from or even what his real name actually was?

He would like to think their relationship was stronger than that, but truthfully, he wasn’t sure. Laura’s former partner Murphy Michaels had spent the past year reinforcing her distrust in him every chance he got and now that Murphy was gone, it was clear that Laura wasn’t sure what to do with the man who remained.

As long as Murphy and Bernice were there she’d had a buffer – a support system she could turn to whenever her trust in him wavered. But now they were gone and in some ways it was like they were getting to know one another all over again. Tentatively and with great care, they had started to build up that trust. And then Laura had lost her home.

It had all been so much in such a short span of time. And so he found himself at the office, hoping against hope that Laura might pop in even for a few minutes just to reassure himself that things between the two of them were alright. They hadn’t talked after that night. Not really and Steele wasn’t sure what he would say even if they did.

He'd never been good at expressing his emotions especially the way she wanted him to. He did know he’d never felt this way about a woman in his entire life and that scared the hell out of him. He wanted to tell her that, and at the same time wanted to hide it from her at all costs.

He sighed and looked down at his empty coffee cup. He wanted to go into the main reception areas and refill it but Mildred had been awfully edgy that morning and he didn’t want to upset her any further than he already had.

Still, it gave him something to do and so he found himself exiting his office only to find Mildred buried under piles of bank statements and other papers.

“Mildred? What on Earth are you doing?”

“Oh boss, I’m sorry,” Mildred apologised. “I know it’s a mess. I’ll have it cleaned up soon.”

“Is this because of the files this morning?” He asked, hoping he hadn’t made any grave errors that would cause Laura any further difficulties.

“Oh no, this is…” Mildred hesitated before saying, “something else. But don’t you worry, it’s completely under control.”

The look on her face said otherwise, and Mr. Steele resolved to be of some use in this matter if nothing else.

“This is ridiculous, Mildred,” he said as he reached for some of the bank statements she held. “Let me help you. I’m not exactly busy doing anything else.”

“I don’t know,” Mildred said doubtfully. “Miss Holt said yesterday that she’d speak to you. I don’t want to get in the middle of anything.”

“You spoke to Miss Holt?” He said, his curiosity now fully peaked. She nodded and she could tell she wanted to tell him what was going on. Whatever it was, Laura had obviously told her not to mention it to him which only made him want to know even more. From a cursory glance it looked to be some sort of banking snafu that had occurred. And while he had never exhibited that much interest in the banking and every day financial operation of the business, Laura hadn’t been nearly as stringent in keeping him away from company finances as she had about company clients.

Oh sure, he’d abused company generosity a time or two, especially in the beginning, but in the last few months, there’d been far less extravagance on his end. She’d also given him a bit more responsibility ever since Mildred had entered their lives as an agent of the IRS.

He remembered how panicked he’d been when Laura told him that Remington Steele had never filed a tax return. He envisioned being deported, and having to leave both Laura and the agency. He’d never felt so helpless in his entire life. The prospect of having to leave a place had never been so frightening to him. He wanted to tell her that in Acapulco. He’d kissed her in that hotel room, desperately trying to show her just how much her cared for her, but she had pulled away, terrified by the intensity of her feelings towards him.

It surprised him to hear her say just how deeply she could possibly care for him. Her fears about getting lost in him echoed his own. He tried to explain to her that he was just as scared, but he wasn’t sure she believed him or understood just how terrifying it was for a man who had never known a home to realise that he not only wanted one with every fibre of his being, but that home was not a place, but a person. He was starting to understand that Laura was his home and if he didn’t tread carefully, he could lose it just as Laura had lost hers.

His understanding of that led him to want to take a more active role in the agency as a way of showing her just how committed he was. He might not be able to give her iron clad guarantees, but he hoped through his actions he could communicate the feelings that were too complicated for him to name aloud. As a result, he found himself being asked on more than one occasion to deposit a cheque or to update a passbook for one of the agency accounts.

So what could be so important that she’d managed to convince Mildred – who had a history of going over Laura’s head – that she should keep it from him?

“She said she would talk to you about it,” Mildred replied. “She said it was her mistake and she would clear it up, but I’ve been looking through the statements and I just don’t see how.”

“What mistake?” He asked. And then – knowing Laura would hate him for what he was about to do, but unable to stop himself – added, “Mildred I am the boss here, am I not? If there’s a problem let me help you sort it out.”

“Oh, I’m sorry chief!” Mildred burst out. “It’s just that you and Miss Holt both told me she’s in charge and so when I mentioned there was a lot of money missing from the primary business account, she said she’d take care of it. We didn’t want to worry you.”

“Of course not,” he said in his most soothing tone. “And nobody is blaming you at all, I promise. How much is missing?”

He had a sinking feeling that he already knew the answer. His trip to the bank the previous day had been an attempt to alleviate one of the many errands from Laura’s to-do list. In doing so, he had deposited a very large cheque. If the amounts matched, there was a very good chance, he’d made a mistake and put the cheque into the wrong account.

“Twenty thousand,” Mildred replied nervously, confirming his suspicions. She thrust the statement into his hand and he wracked his brain trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

“I see,” he said, tugging self consciously on his earlobe. He smiled at Mildred, attempting to ease her fears. “Miss Holt usually takes care of the day-to-day finances, which is why she said she would handle it but I think we can both agree she has a lot on her plate. Refresh my memory, Mildred. How many accounts do we have?

“Three,” Mildred replied clearly surprised by the fact that he didn’t know that already. “There’s the primary account, a secondary account for expenses and the discretionary account.”

“And did you update the other two accounts?” Mr. Steele asked.

“No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “I only update those once a month.”

“I’m afraid this mix-up is my fault,” he admitted, feeling more than a little embarrassed by the error. “I deposited a cheque for that amount yesterday but I clearly put it in the wrong account. I think you’ll find if you update the other two, it will be in one of them.”

“I’ll do that right away, Mr. Steele,” Mildred vowed, standing up and collecting her purse. “Shall I call Miss Holt and let her know we’ve sorted it out?”

“Ahh, no, that won’t be necessary,” he replied, realising that he now possessed the excuse to see her that he had been craving. “You go to the bank and I will swing by Miss Holt’s and deliver the news myself. And uh, take the rest of the day off. You’ve earned it.”

“Thanks, Chief!” Mildred said as she hurriedly left the office.

He smiled slightly feeling oddly nervous as he gathered his things and called for the limo before locking the doors to the agency.


	6. Chapter 6

Laura sighed in frustration as she crossed yet another music store off her list. She’d spent the bulk of the morning calling store after store in the Los Angeles area trying to find the one Mr. Steele had purchased the piano from.

Truthfully, she hadn’t expected there to be quite so many, nor for it to be as much work as it had been. She knew she should be using her time to look up contractors to continue the necessary work on the loft, but was unable to do so. She felt driven to get to the bottom of things – as if the knowledge of how he’d paid for the piano would somehow give her the answers she desperately sought from him. As if it would return at least a fraction of the control to her life that had been lost when her home exploded.

She wasn’t sure which answers she wanted either. Did she want to find out he used company funds? Would that make it easier for her if she knew that the piano had been an attempt to manipulate his way into her bed? In many ways, that was the simpler explanation as well as the most comfortable.

Even more frightening was the idea that his feelings ran far deeper than she realised. Was she ready for things to change? She’d always held him at arm’s length, convinced that his allergy to commitment would result in her getting hurt. But what if this was his way of telling her that he was ready for the kind of commitment she had told him she wanted? Was she ready for that?

She hadn’t really trusted a man with her heart since Wilson had left her. He’d seemed like such a sure thing. He was stable, reliable, all the things she had told herself she needed from a man and in the end, he’d proven himself just as unreliable as every other man. Could she ever truly trust Mr. Steele to be the exception? Especially since he was so wildly different from Wilson in every way.

Except…Wilson never would have thought to buy her a piano, nor would he have been so deeply in tune to her emotional distress after losing her house. He’d likely have fixated on making sure she got her insurance payout or offered to negotiate a deal with the bank on a new mortgage. She had no doubt he would have cared, but he would never have worn his affection for her so readily as Mr. Steele had that night.

What did it all mean?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the cheery voice on the other end of the telephone line as her latest call connected.

“Hello, Michael’s Music Emporium, Darlene speaking,” the young and chipper woman said, “how may I help you?”

“Hello,” Laura said, using the business-like tone she usually reserved for clients, “my name is Tracy Lord. I’m looking to trace the sale of a Steinway piano purchased by my employer. He is out of town right now and asked me to look into the matter, but didn’t tell me exactly where he purchased the piano from.”

“I can certainly help you with that,” Darlene replied trying her best to sound helpful. “Provided you have the number registered to the piano.”

Laura did, and gave her the number over the phone. She then waited as the young woman put her on hold in order to find the file she was looking for.

“Ahh, yes,” Darlene said as she returned, “that piano was indeed purchased from here by a Mr. Richard Blaine. He paid for it in cash.”

“Mmm hmm,” Laura replied trying her best to sound disinterested as she asked her next question. “And how much was it?”

“Twenty thousand,” Darlene said, her voice the tiniest bit cooler at being asked such a question. Likely it was considered bad form to inquire the price of such an item but Laura was beyond caring. The amounts matched what was missing from the agency account. She felt her heart sink. She hadn’t realised until now just how much she had wanted to be wrong about him. She swallowed heavily and looked sadly at the instrument one more time.

“And, what would be the procedure, should Mr. Blaine wish to return it?”

“Return it?” Darlene sounded shocked now. Clearly they didn’t get many – if any at all – asking to return such a thing. “He…wants to _return_ a one-of-a-kind Steinway?”

“That is the reason I am calling,” Laura replied irritated by the other woman’s blatant snobbery as well as the realisation that returning it might not even be possible thanks to his penchant for largess. “You see my employer Mr. Blaine purchased the piano as a gift for a friend and it turns out she doesn’t play so you see it would make no sense for her to keep it. He asked me to inquire about the possibility of doing so. From one employee to another, I’m sure you understand.”

“I suppose I could speak to the store owner,” Darlene said doubtfully, “but I can’t make any promises. Is there a number I could reach you at Miss Lord?”

Laura supplied her phone number to the woman already realising the futility of it. She thanked the woman for her time and was about to say good bye when Darlene interrupted her.

“Like I said, I’ll do my best, but if it were me and a man that looks like your boss bought me a piano like that?” Laura could almost see the young woman shaking her head ruefully. “I’d marry him and get him to throw music lessons in as a wedding gift. If…you catch my meaning.”

Laura did, and thanked her for her help before hanging up. Standing up, she found herself threading her hands through her hair as she let out a cry of sheer frustration.

Of all the idiotic things for him to do! How on Earth was she supposed to react when she saw him at the agency? When he asked her how she liked his gift? Was she supposed to thank him, or give him a piece of her mind for having the gall to think that something so transparent would work?

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She looked at it in confusion for a moment, trying to remember if she had scheduled any deliveries for that afternoon. She checked her watch and was shocked to see that it was already almost two. Where had the day gone? And who could be at the door?

She headed over to it and pulled the heavy door aside, to reveal Mr. Steele standing there, looking more than a little nervous.

“Sorry to bother you, Laura,” he said, “may I come in?”


	7. Chapter 7

“Mr. Steele!” Laura couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice, nor could she suppress the flutter that ran through her as she took in the site of him standing there. Despite the fact that they worked together every day, she always felt slightly off kilter whenever he was remotely close to her. That feeling had intensified after Murphy and Denise left which Laura attributed to the fact that they had been working far more closely together ever since. “I hadn’t expected to see you until Monday.”

“I know,” he replied, slightly apologetic. He was suddenly having second thoughts about whether this had been a good idea. Laura wasn’t exactly easy to read at the best of times, but at this moment she was positively inscrutable. He’d foolishly assumed that she might be missing him the same way he had missed her, but now he wasn’t sure. She certainly hadn’t invited him in yet, despite the fact that he’d been standing there for a minute or so now. “I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted you. I just wanted to…”

He trailed off as his eyes took in the sight of the loft behind her. What had once been nothing more than a filthy industrial space with only a toilet to recommend it was looking closer and closer to a home. He couldn’t believe the amount of work she had done in a few short days.

“What is it?” Laura asked, suddenly feeling slightly self conscious as he looked around the space that was slowly transforming itself into somewhere vaguely liveable.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised, feeling even more that this had been a bad idea. Here he was thinking she had been avoiding him when in reality she had been hard at work trying to carve out a new home for herself. He felt embarrassed at how insecure he had been. She probably hadn’t had any time to think about, much less play the piano that sat as the centrepiece in the loft. “I uh, shouldn’t have come. You clearly have a lot to do.”

“No,” Laura said with a soft sigh. She opened the door a little wider and gestured for him to enter. “I was just taking a break. Why don’t you come in?”

He did, and Laura watched, at a loss, as he took in the space. She hadn’t been intending on confronting him yet about the piano. She wasn’t even sure yet what she wanted to do about it. The woman on from the music store had made it abundantly clear that returning a piano like that was simply not done.

So what could she do with it? And what would she tell him when he inevitably asked her what she thought? Laura had decided that in addition to hiring contractors to put in a proper kitchen and bathroom, she would use the day to decide on a course of action as to how to respond. But before she had that opportunity he had shown up at her door and all of Laura’s good intentions seemed to fly out the window.

“This is incredible,” he murmured as he slowly walked around the loft. “It looks nothing like it did before.”

“Well, you told me to think of the possibilities,” she reminded him with a slight smile as she thought of that night. “I’m merely following your advice.”

“Well the student has clearly surpassed the teacher,” he replied with a grin as he finished taking it all in.

“There is still a lot to do,” Laura said with a tired sigh. “This morning was supposed to have been spent hiring contractors to finish the kitchen and bathroom, but I got a little sidetracked.” She glanced briefly at the piano as she spoke – a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Mr. Steele.

An uncomfortable silence followed, both lost in their own thoughts and hampered by their own insecurities. Part of her wanted to just ask him flat out if he had used agency funds to buy the piano and part of her didn’t. Despite the fact that she was ninety nine percent sure that’s where it came from, hearing him admit it would make it real and meant she would have to deal with the fact that the night they had spent together might not have meant as much to him as it had to her. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

Mr. Steele, was also at a loss as to what to say – something that was quite unusual for him. He wanted to ask her what she thought of the piano and at the same time did not want it to look as if he was shopping for praise. She’d avoided looking at since he’d entered the loft – something he found quite curious. Was she uncomfortable with the gesture? And if so, did that mean she had sensed the depth of his feelings for her that had lead him to purchase it? He could understand her fear and hesitation. His own knowledge of how he felt about her scared him more than he’d ever anticipated. He’d hoped the gift would be seen as his way of saying that he wanted to be there for her – through the difficult times as well as the good times.

In a short while, she had lost so much and he knew that his own permanence in her life was uncertain. He’d meant for the piano to convey the message that he was in this for the long haul. Certainly the lengths he had gone to in order to purchase the piano said as much, and yet he hesitated in letting her know just how much he had sacrificed in order to buy it. He was still coming to terms with what he’d done himself. Letting her know the truth behind the gift’s origins might scare her. He wasn’t sure if that was something either of them was ready for. Was it best to just ignore it all together?

Laura looked at him nervously and he managed a weak smile in return. Once again, he wondered what he was doing there. She clearly had things to do and his presence was only getting in the way. The information about the misplaced money could certainly have waited. If he had wanted to really make things easier, he could have simply gone to the bank today and fixed the snafu himself. Instead he had come here. For what?

“Do you want something to drink?” Laura asked him. “I do have a working refrigerator now. I’ve been keeping some water cold in there.”

“Actually, I am thinking I should probably be going,” he replied looking slightly chagrined. “I didn’t realise how much work you had to do and I’m only disturbing you, I’m afraid.”

“Why did you say you came here again?” Laura wondered. She couldn’t remember if he had told her why he’d shown up. She knew she shouldn’t be encouraging him. Clearly neither of them was ready to talk about the things they really needed to and yet something inside her needed to know what had prompted him to stop by.

“I, uh…” he ran a hand through his hair – a gesture she was familiar with when he was unsure of himself. Laura liked seeing this side of him as it was one of the few times she knew he was being truly honest with her. He chuckled and looked up at her, realising that he’d already put all his cards on the table when he had given her the piano. No point in holding back now. “To be honest, Laura, I’ve been sitting at the office for the last two days bored out of my tree. I finally made a rather flimsy excuse to myself and to Mildred and came straight here because…I missed you.”

“You…missed me?” She was a little surprised by that confession. Two days was hardly a long time. They had spent weekends apart before, and it wasn’t as if she was the only connection he had in the city. She was often surprised by the myriad of old friends that would appear from time to time when she wasn’t expecting it. He clearly had a life outside of their partnership. Still, she could tell as she looked into his earnest expression that he was entirely serious. It was that same earnestness that she’d trusted that night as he held her close and whispered soft endearments in her ear as she cried.

She was never quite sure what to do with him in those moments. She knew how to handle his innuendos and cheeky comments. She knew how to handle the games and the attempts to manipulate her but the moments where he showed himself absent of artifice confused her. She remembered the first time she had seen through his façade. It was one of their first cases with him as Remington Steele. He’d hired an old friend – a man by the name of Wallace – to install a security system. Unfortunately for him, the system had been breached and Wallace had disappeared. Everyone including Laura, had assumed Wallace – a reformed thief and addict – had been responsible for the theft. When his friend turned up dead as a result of an apparent drug overdose, Mr. Steele had become enraged. He had slammed the morgue attendant up against the wall, going over in detail all the ways in which Wallace had been a good man.

He'd insisted that whatever issues with drug use that Wallace had had were in the past and Laura had believed him. There had been something about him in that moment – an honesty mixed with a vulnerability that told her he was used to losing people. It was that knowledge that had led her to promise him that she would help him find Wallace’s killer.

And they had. And over time she’d learned how to recognise these moments of honesty from him. They had become increasingly more frequent the more she had gotten to know him and though they never seemed to give her answers to the bigger mysteries of his name or the truth of his past, they gave her insight into his character and feelings for her – something that was ultimately more important in the long run.

And now, here he was telling her that he’d not only gone to the agency these past couple of days but had actively missed her presence there. It was an odd admission but a welcome one and she felt her heart soften towards him even as she wondered how to broach the subject of his gift.

“I…missed you too,” she admitted haltingly. “I’m never quite sure what to do with myself when I’m not in the office to be honest.”

“Perhaps…” he stepped closer to her, wanting to reach out and touch her but afraid to do so lest he cause her to second guess herself as she so often did. “Perhaps I could help you? You said you still need to make some phone calls to contractors. What’s that idiom…light hands make many work?”

Laura threw her head back and laughed – a sound he found he loved to hear.

“It’s many hands make light work,” she corrected him. And then, giving him a more serious look said, “and I’m afraid you might distract me.”

“Oh?” He said with a lopsided grin. He took another slightly less hesitant step and gently touched her arm, pulling her close. Laura’s breath caught slightly as she allowed herself to be brought under his spell. The look he gave her was intense – like looking into the sun – she wanted to look away because it was too bright but couldn’t bring herself to do it. His body was warm, and his voice a soft rumble as he spoke his next words. “You mean like this?”

Before she could respond, Laura found herself being pulled into a deep and searching kiss. His hand cupped her face ever so gently but with an odd hint of urgency. His fingers gently caressed her neck as she allowed herself to get lost in the feel of him pressed firmly against her. He deepened the kiss and Laura tried hard to maintain her self control as her body rebelled against her.

Mr. Steele was gradually losing the ability to restrain himself. He hadn’t expected Laura to respond to his kiss with such unbridled enthusiasm and as a result he found himself taking the kiss one step further – seeing just how far he could push his luck before she put the breaks on things. He was surprised when she allowed one hand to gently caress her – working his way down her neck, collar bone and over her breasts eventually settling on her waist.

She whimpered against him as he touched her which only served to drive him crazy. Perhaps he had been wrong about the gift. Perhaps the other night had indeed changed something fundamental between them. Although he wanted desperately to see how far this kiss would go, he knew that he had step back and let Laura take control.

And take control she had. Forcing herself to ignore the nagging doubts inside her, she instead focused on the way he was making her feel. It occurred to her that nobody had ever ignited this particular feeling within her – a feeling of being completely and utterly alive. Her entire body hummed with need as his hand gently made its way down her body. She allowed herself to give in to it as the heat built between them.

She found herself pulling him, wanting to feel more of him, wanting to feel skin against skin. It wasn’t like her to be this reckless, especially with so many unanswered questions, but the moment he touched her, she was reminded of how incredibly tender he’d been when she was at her lowest. That feeling of perfect safety and comfort propelled her to take the risks she normally would have avoided with him.

They stumbled backwards ever so slightly and Laura reached up, intending to anchor herself but instead winding her hands through his hair, drawing a soft groan from him as she did so. His breath was ragged as was hers. She knew he was just as aroused and surprised by the kiss as she was. She also knew that he was holding back. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but something deep inside told her that he knew just how much she wanted him. All he would have to do is push just a little bit further and she would completely fall apart.

It was that knowledge, combined with another stumble backwards into something solid that snapped her back to reality.

She pulled back, breaking the kiss – and the spell, only to notice that the thing she’d stumbled back against had – fittingly – been the piano.

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying desperately to catch his breath and regain control. “I shouldn’t have done that.”


	8. Chapter 8

Laura was even more confused than ever. There were certain truths she knew about Mr. Steele. She knew he loved old movies. She knew he loved five-star restaurants and cooking gourmet meals. She knew he had expensive tastes and a tendency to try to lure her into exotic locations. And she knew he was terrified of emotional honesty.

So what had happened a moment ago between them? The conversation with the lady from the music store had all but convinced Laura that the man she had spent the night with – the man who had held her, cherished her and supported her through the worst moments of her life was also a con man who appeared to be playing the long game with her heart.

But the man who had come to the loft just now had been nothing but honest – nervously so. He had admitted to wanting to see her. He’d admitted to making up an excuse. He’d even offered to help her with arguably the most mundane and boring of jobs just to spend time with her.

And then he had kissed her and set every part of her body on fire. She’d been almost powerless to resist – something he must have known. And yet, not only did he not take advantage of it, but had apologised to her when she pulled away – as if he knew she wouldn’t be ready for this much physical intimacy.

How could a man whose name she didn’t even know seem to understand her so well? And what did that mean?

“I’m sorry too,” she replied, feeling flustered by her own inability to articulate what she was feeling. “I shouldn’t have encouraged this. Not right now. I’m…confused.”

“I sense that,” he replied gently. “I’d be lying if I said I had everything figured out myself. I’m not even sure why I’m even here, save for feeling like I had to see you….had to see how you were getting on with everything.”

“Had to see if I liked the piano you sent?” She watched his face fall every so slightly at the suspicion in the question. She hated herself almost the moment the words left her mouth but it was too late to take them back. She cursed the habit she had of pushing people away the moment they got too close. And gotten too close he had.

“Is that why you think I’m here?” He wondered sounding more than a little bewildered.

“You just said yourself you don’t know why you’re here,” Laura replied defensively. “And you’re not always Mr. forthcoming when it comes to these things. Sometimes I have to fill in the blanks.”

“And what precisely have you filled in, then?” He asked, though it felt as if he already knew the answer. The look on her face had gone from flushed and clearly more than a little aroused to guarded and unreadable once the spell of the kiss had been broken. His stomach felt more than a little heavy as he realised that she still didn’t trust him even after everything that had happened between them.

“Well, since you asked,” Laura replied, unable to look him in the eye. She was having trouble voicing her suspicions now that she had him here in front of her. What seemed to make perfect sense in the privacy of her own doubts and fears suddenly seemed hard to believe now that he stood in front of her. Which Mr. Steele was the real one? The one she had turned to in her hour of need, or the one who had done his best over the bulk of the past year to manoeuvre her into the bedroom time after time? “It seems to me that a man doesn’t spend that much money on a gift without having some kind of ulterior motive. I’m just trying to navigate the waters – waters that are becoming increasingly murky.”

She sounded confident as she spoke, but her heart sank as she watched the hurt on his face deepen. Could it be an act? He’d been so many different people in his past that it was hard for Laura to know if he was being truthful or merely an excellent actor. She wanted to believe the former, but her own stubborn pride held onto the latter.

“Ulterior motive?” He echoed, an edge to his voice that betrayed the hurt he was feeling. He’d worried that the gift – so fraught with meaning – might scare her away. It seemed however, that rather than see the piano the way he’d seen it – as a physical manifestation of just how much he cared for her, she had seen it as a potential attempt at manipulation. That that idea had even crossed her mind was hurtful enough, and yet it seemed she had spent the last couple of days convincing herself that it was true. After everything that had happened together that night, how could she think so little of him? “Precisely what sort of strings do you think came attached here?”

“The kind that have been attached to everything you’ve done since we met,” Laura said, tipping her chin up in stubborn defiance. The wounded look in his eyes caused her to seriously call into question the assumptions she had made about his intentions. But then where had the money com from? And what had happened to the twenty thousand Mildred was missing? “

In an instant his face changed from hurt to angry as she voiced her fears out loud.

“If that’s all I wanted from you, Laura, I could have gotten it from you the other night.” He reminded her curtly. His jaw twitched and he had to fight to keep the anger he now felt under control. He had thought she was truly beginning to trust him. To have her accuse him – even subtly of using the gift to manipulate her into bed left a sour taste in his mouth. Is that really how she saw him? As a man who would use whatever he could to get what he wanted from her?

Laura felt as if she’d been slapped in the face. Her entire body felt numb as his words took effect. They both knew that if he’d taken her up on her offer the other night that they would have woken up together the next day but to hear it said allowed, so coldly – as if she were a toy he’d been offered but decided not to play with hurt more than she thought it would. Her face flushed as his blue eyes looked back in anger. She wasn’t sure if his anger was because he was truly hurt, or because he’d been found out and was trying to cover it up.

“Yes, I suppose you could have,” she replied, a slight tremble in her voice. _No,_ she told herself. _She would NOT cry in front of him. She would not let him have the satisfaction._

“I’m sorry,” he said, realising the impact of his words. “That was too far. I shouldn’t have said that.” He’d allowed his own hurt pride to forget that the Laura Holt that stood in front of him was not the normally whole and competent woman that he was used to working with. She’d been wounded and that wound was going to take some time to heal. And he hadn’t always been the most trustworthy or stable person in her life. To question that now – after every other part in her life being wrenched out from under her was understandable.

“It’s true though,” Laura said, her voice thick with emotion. He could see just how difficult it was for her to reign her emotions in right now – something he wasn’t used to. The Laura Holt he’d known this whole time was always in control. He could tell she wasn’t used to this feeling and it frightened her. “I’m sorry if I accused you of…”

She trailed off and shook her head.

“It’s just…you’ve wanted us to go to bed since I met you. And the other night, I thought I wanted that too.”

“I still want that…” he told her, his voice gentler now as he watched her attempt to navigate a minefield of emotion. From what he could tell, she seemed to be simultaneously unsure of his intentions and needing the reassurance that his feelings for her were real. It was a fine balance to walk and he knew that one false step would put them back to square one. “But you’d just lost your home. And Murphy, and Bernice. It wasn’t right. I want you…but I don’t want to be a regret.”

“I didn’t realise…” Laura said, surprised to find herself on the verge of tears. “But what did you expect me to think? You’ve been hiding from me from the moment I met you.”

“That’s not true.” He insisted, knowing that if there was ever a time for him to at least try to be honest with her, it was now. “I’m scared of how I feel for you, but I’ve never hid it.”

“Maybe I need more than stories of Greek smugglers and elaborate gifts,” Laura said softly. “I feel like we keep going in circles…like I never know where I stand with you.”

“Which is why I couldn’t take advantage of your loss the other night.” Mr. Steele told her. He found himself uncharacteristically unsure of himself – as if he had stepped out onto a precipice and one wrong step could be catastrophic for both of them. “I want you, Laura. I’ve never hidden that. But there is one thing I promise you I will never do is to take advantage of you, or go to bed with you under false pretences.”

“I want to believe that. I want to believe you,” she said softly. And if it hadn’t been for the twenty-thousand-dollar elephant in the room, she might have been able to. After all, he’d had the chance to take advantage the other night as he had so coldly pointed out to her only moments ago. “It’s just so hard, when I can’t figure out what you do want.”

“I’ve just told you,” He replied, his voice rising ever so slightly as the true depth of her fear and mistrust hit him. “But you don’t seem to want to listen. You seem determined not to trust me, no matter what I do or how hard I try.”

“You have to admit, you haven’t given me much to go on,” Laura said, the frustration evident. “Instead of telling me how you really feel, you do something like this!” She gestured vaguely towards the piano.

“I have told you,” he insisted quietly, “in my own way I’ve been as honest as I can be. I’ve been very clear that I care about you and that I want this to go further. And the other night, when you offered yourself to me, there was a split second in which I wanted nothing else but to take you in my arms, carry you to my bedroom and…”

“And what?” Laura interrupted, wanting to hear him finish his sentence and yet somehow afraid of how her body might respond if he did. His eyes glittered with an emotion she couldn’t define. It was intimate and terrifying all at once. He took a few deep breaths as if to steady himself before speaking again.

“When it happens between us, I don’t want to feel like you’ve simply…given in.” He gave her a look that felt as if he was staring right into the heart of all of her fears and smiled crookedly. “This isn’t a game that I win when I finally wear you down. It’s not good enough for me to know that you couldn’t say no. I need you to want to say yes.”

“I…I’m sorry,” Laura said, her heart hammering at twice the normal speed as she attempted to process his words. “I didn’t realise you felt that way.” While it wasn’t the exact words she had always felt she needed to hear from him, in many ways it was the next best thing. She knew he wanted to go to bed with her – that much had never been a secret. But she hadn’t realised that doing so would mean as much to him as it would to her. She’s always felt like he had the emotional upper hand between them and it constantly kept her on the back foot.

But what if that hadn’t been the case at all? If he was just as scared as she was, then what did that mean for both of them? And where did the missing twenty-thousand fit in? She knew now that she had to ask him straight out where the money had come from. She needed to know once and for all, what that Steinway had really meant.

“Where did the money for the piano come from?”

Even though he’d been expecting the question, he found himself hesitant to answer it. He knew that if she was asking him this so bluntly, that it clearly meant a lot to her to know where the money had come from. It was unlike Laura to poke her nose too soundly into his finances. They usually operated under a strict ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy when it came to how he spent his money. He knew it was mainly due to his mysterious past. To look to closely into his lifestyle meant finding out more about how he had made his living prior to meeting her and as much as she claimed to want to know about his past, he knew there were things she wanted to stay secret. The only time she really cared about money he spent is when he dipped into agency funds to do it.

But surely she didn’t think he would use agency money to buy the piano? Looking at the determined expression on her face, it suddenly all clicked into place. She had spoken to Mildred so she knew about the misplaced twenty-thousand. And she obviously knew his salary at the agency. Her aggravatingly logical brain had likely leaped to the conclusion that he’d clearly used agency funds to purchase the piano – hence the belief that his motives for doing so had been less than honourable. That’s where this had come from – the insecurity, the fears of an ulterior motive it had all fallen into place. He could have laughed out loud if it weren’t so incredibly frustrating.

He knew he could clear this mess up simply and succinctly, but to do so he would have to be honest with her – fully and completely not only about where the money had come from, but what it meant in terms of their future. Was he ready for that? To tell her the truth would be to admit a depth of feeling he had only just come to terms with himself. It would leave him vulnerable in a way he had never been with anyone. It would mean admitting that his presence in her life was something he wanted to be permanent.

He'd never wanted to stay in any place for too long. He had always been honest with her when it came to that fear. To tell her the truth would reveal his intentions to do just that – it would let her knew that he finally wanted to put down roots – to create the stability she didn’t think him capable of. Could they handle that knowledge? Despite her insistence that she craved guarantees, forever was an awfully long time. And although the thought of being with her – of staying by her side filled him with exhilaration, perhaps she didn’t feel the same way. She’d lost so much – a home she’d built and people she had counted on. Would the truth reassure her, or terrify her? There was only one way to know.

“It’s a simple question,” Laura repeated, feeling as if his hesitancy meant she had clearly caught him in a lie. “Where did the money for the piano come from?”

“From my security blanket.” He blurted out, before he could stop himself. She blinked, confusion evident.

“Your what?”

He took a deep breath. How could he explain this in a way that made sense?

“The first lesson Daniel ever taught me about the life of a con man is to always have a security blanket…you’d think of it as an escape fund. Every con man worth his salt has money tucked away somewhere – a large sum if he’s smart. We all hide it differently – a hidden safe, money under the floorboard…I’ve always kept mine in a post office box – but always somewhere easily accessible and in a place nobody will think to look. We pull a job, take the money and stash it. And that’s where it stays. No matter what. No matter how many times we say we’re giving up the life, no con man ever gives up his security blanket. That money is a safety net in case things to south and one has to make a hasty exit. It was the most important thing Daniel ever taught me. No matter what you do, you never ever let go of your security blanket.”

For the first time, Laura found herself completely speechless. While he hadn’t actually said as much, she knew where this conversation was headed. And if she was right, he’d used that security blanket – that emergency escape fund – to buy her a beautiful one-of-a-kind piano. She’d assumed all sorts of awful things about him. She had lost her house and her two best friends in one fell swoop. She’d been left with a man she thought so mercurial and hard to be pin down that she could never fully trust him. And yet wasn’t the fact that he used that money as good as any sort of declaration she had demanded from him?

And if so, was it worth the exchange of her home, Bernice, and Murphy to know that he wanted to stay? That he would break the most important rule of his former life to ensure that she had one thing that reminded her of what she had lost? 

She suddenly felt awful for even attempting to return it. She also felt the weight of emotional responsibility descend on her as she realised this was as close as she was going to get right now to any sort of discussion of his feelings.

“And you spent it on the piano?” She asked. Eve though he had already told her as much, there was as till a part of her that needed to hear him say it – a part of her that needed to know why _she_ of all people was worth settling down for. “On me? Why?”

“I knew what that piano meant to you. I knew when I saw your face as we picked through the rubble.” He replied simply. He gave her a hesitant smile that told her he understood the depth of meaning this conversation held just as much as she did. “And that security blanket suddenly didn’t seem all that important. In a way, it felt like a relief. To no longer be clinging to a life I’ve grown out of is…freeing somehow.”

“I…” Laura shook her head and looked back at the piano. “I’m sorry I assumed the worst of you. It’s just that when I spoke to Mildred and she told me…” Laura trailed off for a moment, realising that if what Mr. Steele had told her about the escape fund was accurate, then there really was twenty-thousand dollars missing.

“She told you that there was a large sum of money misplaced,” Mr. Steele filled in with a wry smile. “Twenty-thousand I believe it was?”

“Y…yes,” Laura said slightly surprised, “how did you know?”

“I’m afraid I deposited it into the wrong account in a foolish attempt to make myself useful.” He chuckled slightly. “It was the excuse I used with Mildred to come here. I told her I was going to tell you and sort it out.”

“Oh…” Laura said, blinking slightly as she processed it all.

He gave her a slightly embarrassed smile.

“It figures that the one and only time I make an attempt to help with the paperwork, I make a complete mess of it.”

“I’ll go to the bank first thing tomorrow,” Laura reassured him with a hearty laugh.

“In light of that, I can see why you assumed the money had come from the agency,” he admitted.

“Perhaps,” Laura said, “but I should have just asked you about it. I think after everything that happened, I was afraid of assuming anything in life was permanent. Especially you.”

“I understand,” he told her. And he did. Slowly, deliberately, they both moved towards one another. She folded herself into his arms and he held her close against him, both of them content to stay there not asking anything of one another except comfort.

His heartbeat was soothing and his arms just as strong and reassuring as they had been the other night. She realised that if she allowed herself to, she could, easily get lost in him – if she hadn’t already. But for some reason that thought no longer scared her in the same way. Oh, she was still terrified of it, but it was reassuring to know she wasn’t the only one who was scared. And that made all the difference.

She allowed him to tip her head up ever so gently and kiss her – this time with an aching sort of tenderness that took them both by surprise.

When he pulled back, Laura gasped at the depth of emotion she could see in his eyes.

“I care about you,” he told her, trying desperately to say what was in his heart but feeling as if he was doomed to constantly fall short, “more than I have ever cared for anyone. I know that’s not exactly what you want to hear, but I need you to know I _am_ trying.”

“I know,” Laura replied softly. And looking at him she realised she did. He might not be able to give her exactly what she wanted right now but that didn’t mean he never would. And she was surprised to discover she could wait. After all, the journey was half the fun.

“What will you do now?” She asked, “save it up again?”

“My security blanket?” He looked at her in surprise. She nodded. “I suppose that depends on you. I’ve never really thought of anywhere as home, but here with you…well, it’s the closest I’ve ever come. And if I’ve learned anything from the last few days, it’s that homes are not always permanent so you have to hold onto them while you can.”

“Sound advice,” Laura agreed as she leaned in and softly kissed his neck. “I’ve learned something as well.”

“Oh?” He said, curiously, “what’s that?”

She smiled back at him, her eyes dancing with affection and a mischievousness that he’d always found highly alluring.

“To think of the possibilities.” 

“To the possibilities,” he echoed as their lips met once more.


End file.
